by Paul G Mann
Who the unfortunates were he didn’t know; the heads had been removed and taken as trophies, he just hoped that the remains of Liz wasn’t scattered about him. The fire was at least five days old letting him assume the poor unfortunate he had witnessed being butchered in the forest was also from East Harbour, probably from the same attack but by a different hunting party than the ones that had feasted here.
Behind him he heard a noise and whirled about bow pulled back ready to fire as he did so. A man was running towards him; a resident of East Harbour that Fred knew only as Will. He lowered the bow waiting for him to cover the two hundred yards between them.
‘Fred,’ he said out of breath, ‘you’ve got to get away from here, get into the tunnels, the Hunki only left a few hours ago chasing another bunch of people, if another party comes this way you’ll be a sitting duck out here,’
‘Lead the way,’ Fred replied not needing another warning. Will raced away towards the main entrance of East Harbour quickly followed by Fred who scanned the sky for Hunki ships as he ran. ‘What happened?’ he asked as the huge trap like door banged shut behind them.
‘To be honest, I don’t really know,’ Will answered. Five, no sorry, six days ago I woke up to screaming. The bastards were already in the tunnels and had killed the three people you saw the remains of, one was Gethin, he tried to talk to them and got killed for his trouble, the other two just happened to be near him. After that they rounded us all up, marched us outside and selected about sixty of us. Those of us not in the selection were told to get back in the tunnels. I watched as the ones outside were split into three groups and told to run.’ He stopped as emotion threatened to overcome him.
‘Please Will,’ Fred said quietly, ‘what happened then, was Liz in the group outside?’
‘Yes Fred,’ he replied, ‘but I don’t know what happened to her, the last I saw of her she was running hell for leather towards the lake, the Hunki didn’t follow her group right away, they were busy slaughtering the ones who tried to make it to the tree line. Once that was done they left a ship to collect the bodies, the other two ships left to chase everyone else.’
Fred went cold inside; Liz outside running for her life while the murderous bastards hunted her down left him with a feeling of numbness. He only hoped the training he had given her helped her get away from the vicious little killers; he hoped but doubted it. He had an empty feeling in the pit of his stomach that made him want to scream. ‘Now is not the time’ he thought, grief could come later, now was time for survival.
‘Where’s everyone else?’ he asked in a cold emotionless voice as he pulled himself together keeping his emotions in check.
‘Don’t know,’ he replied shaking his head. ‘The bastards came back this morning, only one ship but they cut another twenty of us out, sent them off southwards by the lake and followed them after about five minutes. I saw them coming so me and three women ran through the tunnels and out under the tree line about half a mile north of here. I left the women in a small rock hollow with an overhang at the front while I came back to see what was happening, I saw you and here we are. What brought you back, Liz said you had gone for good?’
‘I knew they had come back,’ he replied without embellishment, ‘I was worried about Liz so came to check on her.’
‘What are you going to do,’ Will asked?
‘Go and find her.’ he said looking at him with eyes that bored into Wills’ soul. ‘Either that or find out what happened to her and I promise you if the Hunki have killed her I won’t rest until I kill the bastards.’
‘Fred that’s suicide, I don’t care how good you are with a bow, you don’t stand a dogs chance against the Hunki weapons.’
‘Maybe not, he replied, ‘but I need to know what happened to her and as God is my judge I promise to take revenge if she has ended up like those poor bastards outside.’
‘Anything I can do to help?’ he asked, ‘or if there’s anything here you need just take it.’
‘Not really Will,’ he replied with a half smile that carried no humour, ‘just point me in the right direction.’
Seven
He waited until dusk began to fall, spending the time honing his knife to a razor sharp edge that would make a Rippers claw seem blunt by comparison. Will watched him as he quietly and methodically ran the knife up and down a smooth sandstone rock stopping only to test the blade and take small pieces of the food and drink he brought to him. Dusk was the favoured time to leave; travel would be slower through the night because the Hunki only hunted in daylight; if he was going to find out what happened to Liz he was better off in the darkness, sleeping of a day only when and if he could find a place to sleep that secured him against the elements, the Hunki and Rippers alike.
Five hours into his journey he saw the tell tale glow of a camp fire. In the pitch black of Newth’s night the glow was like a beacon guiding him to his quarry. Cautiously he sniffed the air; the unmistakeable smell of cooking meat wafted on the slight breeze. Silently he began to glide towards the fire stopping in his tracks after only two minutes as his hunters’ nose caught the unmistakeable aroma of a Ripper. Rippers never travelled alone, they were pack animals with at least two travelling together. Thankfully he was downwind of them and he determined to stay that way and not get between Rippers and the Hunki with nowhere to go.
The glow of the fire and the smell of roasting meat was ahead and to his right, the Ripper was somewhere to his left. His ears heard the sound of breaking twigs coming from the Rippers direction, the Hunki to his right were making no attempt to be quiet and obviously not aware of the stalking animals. He breasted a small hill taking cover behind a native shrub. In the clearing below him ten Hunki warriors sat around a fire eating what was obviously human meat, the torso of some other poor devil turned on a spit roasting over the fire. His blood began to boil and he knocked his bow but stayed his hand realising he had nowhere to run when the Hunki turned on him. He would get two of them at least, but two was not worth the sacrifice of his own life.
Frustrated he lowered the bow taking the tension out of the string. As he did so he heard the low growl of a Ripper over to his left. With a smile of pure pleasure he realised he had never been so happy to see a Ripper. Three of them came bounding out of the woods charging the unsuspecting Hunki. Again he raised his bow but waited until he knew what damage the Rippers would do to the Hunki before selecting a target.
He knew from experience these animals were fast but he had never seen a pack of them hunting like this before. They were among the Hunki before the hated enemy could react ripping at least six of them to shreds as they stood reaching for weapons. He never hesitated unleashing an arrow at a Hunki running for the shelter of his ship. It hit its target cleanly in the middle of his back, his next arrow downed a Hunki as it reached the ships door; the remaining vermin was brought down by two Rippers as the ship lifted into the air and away from the bloodbath on the ground.
All that could be heard was the growling and snarling of Rippers as they ripped apart the Hunki they had just killed with teeth and claws. He took three arrows out of his quiver, two he placed in easy reach; the other he fitted to his bow and fired at the nearest Ripper. It went down with an arrow embedded in its heart; the second arrow took another in its throat before the last animal let go of its blood rage and turned to see what was killing its pack. He saw Fred and charged, Freds last arrow found its way into the beasts open jaws as it raced towards him intent on shredding the flesh from his bones.
The clearing was a quagmire of blood soaked ground littered with Hunki and human body parts. Eight human corpses lay headless off to one side of the still burning fire. Fred gave them a cursory look; it would be impossible to know if one of them was Liz and he dreaded looking and seeing something that might make him think it was her. He assumed these poor unfortunates were the last lot of people taken from East Harbour in the hours before he arrived; if so Liz wouldn’t be there she was set running six days ago.
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sp; He left the carnage behind him but not before he dragged the human bodies to the fire and left them to burn. The Hunki may be back but he was damned if he would leave them a meal of his former friends. His last act before leaving was to rescue his arrows from the Hunki and the Ripper carcases he had downed; the Hunki would in all probability be back with reinforcements to collect their dead and he didn’t want to make it easy for them to realise what had happened here. If they thought for one second a human was killing their own with arrows they would kill everyone they came across without thought or question in revenge.
Away from the fire his eyes once more became adjusted to the darkness; there was no light, no moon to illuminate his path only the soft glow of the billions of stars that blazed overhead. It was enough for him to pick up the trail of feet as they ran headlong in panic away from the chasing Hunki. At least five people had come this way; the tell tale signs of broken branches on the shrubbery, deep imprints of feet as they came down on the soft sandy ground along the side of the Inland Sea before they dug in once again to find purchase as they ran, and the odd pieces of ripped cloth and discarded clothing made his tracking easy.
Half a mile from the Hunki camp site and about two miles from East Harbour the five split to go their own way. Sensible Fred thought, in a group they were easy to chase down, individually and heading for the tree line they would be that much harder, especially if they made it into the trees and relative safety if they could find a hiding place. He scanned the ground and ascertaining the smallest imprint of a foot in the soft ground noted the heading it took and followed it. The big imprints made by bigger feet were men, the smallest was a woman and he hoped against hope it was made by Liz. If he had trained her right and she remembered what he had taught, she would leave a trail for him to follow; not that she expected him to seek her out, but just in case he did.
Two nights later he came across a small cave. He lit a torch of twisted grass on a long piece of wood that had been soaked in oil he had taken from East harbour. A quick initial search took him around a corner into a large open area full of misshapen rocks left by water as it had cut through the soft limestone. Behind one of the rocks a fire had been made and made recently. Small animal bones lay in a neat pile to one side of the fire, some still had meat on them, meat which had been cooked and eaten by whoever had stayed here. Engraved in a rough scrawl in the rock above the fire was the word Liz; for the first time in nearly two weeks he allowed himself a smile of relief knowing she was still alive and he was on the right track. Tonight he would stay here, tomorrow he would resume his search in daylight; this far into the trees daylight travel should be relatively safe from hunting Hunki packs. Daylight would also make his tracking easier and help him cover more ground as he followed Liz and hopefully caught up with her.
She was heading south west, in to an area of open grasslands devoid of human habitation that the Hunki herded their prey to. If she reached there before he did she would be a sitting duck for the hunting parties and end up like so many before her roasting over an open fire while the Hunki made ready to eat. Knowing she was alive and the general direction she headed he threw caution to the wind, stopped following her tracks and set out in a direct line that would take him over the mountains to where he thought she would emerge from the trees into open country.
Two hours into his journey the forest around him went quiet; not totally silent but enough to warn him of danger. He sniffed the air and ascertained the faint smell of wood smoke and fresh cooked meat. He circled to his right keeping the smells upwind of him until he could pinpoint the exact direction the danger lay. On silent feet he ghosted through the trees, bow in hand with an arrow ready to knock and fire. Thin wisps of smoke from a fire left to burn itself out rose from a clearing ahead of him. He hid behind a tree, every sense strained to pick up movement or a sign of danger. He looked out; whatever or whoever had set the fire had gone.
Six feet, six hands and the bones of three people had been thrown in a pile to one side of the fire. Whoever they were, they weren’t from East Harbour. Their clothing, blood soaked and torn off their bodies was strewn on the ground near the bones. Two wicked spiked clubs and a crossbow had been smashed and left with the clothing; a grim smile crossed Fred’s features; judges, at least the Hunki had feasted on vermin this time. There was nothing here for him but being the hunter he was he gave the ground around the fire and human remains a quick inspection. A small footprint, purposely imprinted in the blood soaked soil had been left to mark the direction she had taken. It had been less than two hours since the fire had been left to die out; Liz had been here since the Hunki had left and was close, with a bit of luck he would catch her before the days’ end.
This far into the woodland food was scarce; a fact that Fred was only too aware of. The meagre supplies he had taken from East harbour were fast running out and he really needed to stop and hunt to replenish them. Deer and the native sheep never came this far in to the woods, even the rabbits that were in abundance around the towns and villages needed the grasslands to feed, the soil in the woods supported a number of plants and trees, mainly native to Newth but grass wasn’t something that grew in abundance here; the lack of light and poor soil prevented grass gaining a foothold for animals to feed on. If he hunted he would have to target smaller game; birds or the small skittish rodent like animals that fed on the smaller shrubs of Newth. His problem there being he would have to stop and lay traps, if he stopped Liz would get further away from him and the time and ground he had made in catching her would be lost.
He took a chance deciding to eat the last of his supplies on the move gathering what fruits and berries off the shrubs and bushes that were ripening as he moved. It was a foolhardy move this early in the year, not a lot was ready for eating except for a few root plants that would need boiling before they would be soft and palatable enough to eat. He pushed on at a breath taking pace through the rough terrain; his eyes and ears straining for sounds that would alert him to Liz being near. His nose caught the scent of a Ripper, but he knew the scent was made from the animal marking his territory not from the animal being near him.
Four hours after leaving the site of the fire he heard the growls and snarls of Rippers in the distance. He stopped, the birds still sang and the scurrying of the smaller animals could still be heard as they went about their daily lives. Danger from the Rippers wasn’t near but caution took hold, he un-slung his bow from his shoulder ready for any eventuality. He pressed on until he knew the Rippers had either caught or cornered something. The growls and snarls they made were in one place, they weren’t chasing anything.
He circled to get downwind of them creeping through the trees to see what they had trapped or killed. Two Rippers circled a tree, a third lay on the ground at the trees base, a crossbow bolt sticking out of its back, a crossbow and quarrel of bolts lay on the floor next to the beast. Fred scanned his eyes upwards; perched in the tree, a wicked judges spiked club in her hand was Liz ready to brain the first Ripper that came within range. Fred knew these animals well; before they went chasing up a tree to her they would wait till she fell out of it from starvation and lack of water. To supplement their diet while they waited they would eat their dead companion.
Fred took stock of the situation; he needed a clear uninterrupted view of the Rippers as they circled. His present position didn’t afford that; too many shrubs and low hanging branches and trees prevented a clear shot at them. He had to move to a position that gave him a clear bow shot, but to move would increase the danger, if the Rippers detected him he would have no chance of bringing the pair down through the thick foliage.
He looked around him before taking a number of arrows out of his quiver, left the quiver on the ground and slowly made a careful move to his right. Five yards and he stopped, not an ideal spot but one that gave him a clear shot at the prowling animals. He drew back on the bow and aimed for the nearest Rippers throat; the arrow sped through the air pierced the soft tissue of the throat killing it i
nstantly. His second arrow was on its way to find its mark before the first had struck. In less than ten seconds two more Rippers lay dead at the foot of the tree.
By the time he collected his quiver Liz was down from her perch and running towards him. She reached him as he rounded a tree, took one look at him, ran to him shouting his name and threw herself in to his arms sobbing her heart out as she held him in a grip that on a lesser mortal would have crushed the life out of him. He held her, picking her up in his giant arms so her face rested on his shoulder and nuzzled into his neck; he was just as relieved to see her alive and well as she obviously was to see him. He let her cry herself out making soft shushing noises to let her know he was here and whispering words of comfort in her ear waiting for the sobs to subside.
Eight
‘It’s been a week of hell,’ she said later in reply to his question wanting to know what had happened as they sat around a small fire sipping the first hot drink she had had in over a week. ‘I’ve been terrified ever since the Hunki cut me out and told me to run. Ten of us headed for the lake, six went north while me and three men headed south along the shore. I suppose we were lucky it was hours before they started chasing us, they must have hunted the ones headed north before they came back for us. I remembered what you said about the Hunki not liking to hunt in the woods so I headed for the trees as soon as I could, the men shouted after me to come back and carried on down the lake shore; the last I saw of them they were running in panic as the Hunki ship came out of the sky after them. Fred it was horrible, they just killed them as they ran without even landing, then they landed and cut the heads off the corpses, then they butchered the poor buggers and took them back in to their flying machine. After that I just ran as quickly as I could into the trees looking for shelter or somewhere to hide from them. I know they followed me, I heard them crashing through the undergrowth so I left a false trail for a hundred yards or so and cut southwest. Since then I’ve hid as best I could trying to leave a trail I knew you could follow but the Hunki wouldn’t. I spent two days deep down in a small cave until I heard Rippers prowling about. I was worried in case they wanted the cave to sleep in or something so I left. This morning I watched the Hunki kill three judges, they butchered two and ate one, luckily one of them dropped his crossbow and club before the Hunki caught him.’ she tailed off as her emotions threatened tears again.